On Monday, Irungu Nyakera, the chairperson of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) board, disclosed a proposal aimed at having the government reimburse travel expenses for eligible cancer patients. Nyakera, in a statement shared across his communication channels, unveiled that the plan entails assigning the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) the responsibility of processing these reimbursements.
This proposal emerged as a significant outcome from a collaborative session between KEMSA officials and representatives of the multinational pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca. Moreover, Nyakera disclosed that AstraZeneca expressed interest in investing in prostate and breast cancer screening infrastructure across the 47 county referral hospitals to facilitate early detection and deter the advancement of cancer cases.
This initiative aims to alleviate the financial strain faced by cancer patients during treatment. Additionally, AstraZeneca, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Kenya Society of Hematology and Oncology (KESHO), Axios, the National Cancer Institute of Kenya (NCI), and other stakeholders, launched the Cancer Care Africa program. This initiative seeks to streamline the process of detecting and treating cancer patients. In Kenya, cancer ranks as the third leading cause of mortality, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), with 29,317 recorded deaths and 44,726 reported cases in 2022. Furthermore, officials from AstraZeneca convened with representatives from the Ministry of Health and KEMSA to discuss further collaborations.
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